Improving well-being after traumatic brain injury through volunteering: a randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT

Objective

To evaluate the efficacy of a novel intervention facilitating volunteer activity to improve well-being in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Design

Randomized two-arm controlled trial, with a wait-list control condition (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT#01728350).

Setting

Community-based setting.

Participants

Seventy-four community-dwelling individuals at least 1-year post TBI, who had completed inpatient or outpatient TBI rehabilitation.

Interventions

A novel intervention, HOPE – Helping Others through Purpose and Engagement, involving orientation/training and a 3-month volunteer placement for the participant, along with training for community agencies regarding TBI.

Main outcome measure(s

): Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS); Flourishing Scale (FS); Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18); Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE); Purpose in Life subscale (one of six in the Ryff Scale of Psychological Well-Being – 54 item version).

Results

There were significantly greater improvements in life satisfaction (SWLS) and self-perceived success (FS) in the intervention group compared to the control group. There were no significant treatment effects on the additional secondary measures of well-being, although they trended in a positive direction.

Conclusions

This study supports our primary hypothesis that individuals who take part in a volunteer intervention will demonstrate greater psychological well-being in comparison to a control group.

KEYWORDS:

• Traumatic brain injury
• volunteering
• life satisfaction
• well-being

Acknowledgments

The contents of this manuscript were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90DP0034). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this manuscript do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. NCT#: 01728350

The authors thank Kristy Judd and her staff at Metro Volunteers (now Spark the Change Colorado) for their vital participation in this project; as well as Richard Owens for his thoughtful insight and assistance.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed in publisher’s website.

Suppliers

^aPASS 14 Power Analysis and Sample Size Software [computer program]. Kaysville, Utah, USA: NCSS, LLC; 2015.

^bSAS System Version 9.4 [computer program]. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.; 2002-2012.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research [90DP0034].